Sacha McDonald, Allie Smith and Jacqui Newton will return to the Vixens’ squad for 2020, and will be joined by 18-year-old shooter, Ruby Barkmeyer, and 25-year-old mid-courter, Elle McDonald.
Along with McDonald, Smith and Newton, Elle McDonald was a member of the Victorian Fury team, that won the 2019 Deakin University Australian Netball League competition. She was also named in the 2019 Victorian Netball League Team of the Year.
And despite her age, Barkmeyer already has a host of accolades to her name. She was a member of the 2019 Victorian Fury squad, as well as the 2018 Victorian 17/U state team and the 2018 Australian 17/U Development Squad.
Melbourne Vixens’ Head Coach, Simone McKinnis OAM, is confident the Vixens have assembled the right combination of players to better the side’s third place finish in 2019.
“It will be fantastic to have Sacha, Allie and Jacqui back around the group in 2020, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how Elle and Ruby thrive in our training environment as well,” McKinnis said.
In addition to training partners, for the first time the Melbourne Vixens are also introducing the Vixens’ Academy to develop the next wave of Vixens for the rigours of the world’s strongest domestic league. From November to February, nine athletes will join the Vixens in both their physical conditioning and on-court programs.
The nine players named in the inaugural Vixens’ Academy:
- Maggie Caris
- Gabby Coffey
- Jordan Cransberg
- Mardi Cunningham
- Ruby Horton
- Hannah Mundy
- Uneeq Palavi
- Rahni Samason
- Tegan Stephenson
